A Bad Connection
by Danishartist
Summary: When you meet people on the internet, they can seem like the coolest people on earth. And when you meet them in real life it's usually a little different than what you'd expect. Of course, it's even worse when they don't show up at all.
1. Chapter 1: A Good Day Starts With A Slap

Chapter one

If he'd be anywhere, he'd be here. He had written about this place so many times, how he hated working here, that his boss was a pain in the ass, that the salary was crappy. But when I walked in, I was in awe.

The whole place was lit up only by the works of candles and dimmed lighting. There were fatboys on the floor, pillows and blankets in small wooden baskets, and several tables that were so low that you almost had to sit on the floor – japanese style. Was this place for real? We had none of that back in Denmark. People were sitting randomly, taking up space with their Macbooks and too large coffee mugs, talking in low voices to each other as if no one wanted to create any unnecessary attention to themselves.

Jesus, there was even a small stage with musical instruments. How the hell could he have hated working here?

I went up to the bar, watching the different paintings and photographs that were taking up all the space on the walls, always distracting you from all the booze that were placed on shelves and even hanging from the ceiling in small strings. Some of the wine bottles that was hanging from the ceiling was cut in half, and had small lights in them instead, creating a cozy and chill atmosphere.

"Unbelievable..." I muttered to myself.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

I looked up to catch the eyes of a brown-haired woman with glasses, who was staring at me with a wondering look, probably waiting for me to order something.

"I-I'm sorry … is, um, is Levi Ackerman working here today?" I asked her awkwardly, not used to people looking at me with such intense eyes. In fact, I wasn't used to being looked at at all. It made me nervous as hell.

"Yeah, he has a shift in about an hour or so …" She paused to tilt her head, looking at something behind me, or rather, not looking at anything at all. She was thinking, wondering. And then she looked at me again, quickly, as if she hadn't just spaced out.

"Can I ask what your business is with him?"

Well, that was kinda straight forward of her to ask, especially since she had no reason to know of my motives.

"No," I said, a little too quick even for my taste. Now I just seemed like an ass, but then again, I didn't feel the need for this girl to like me. There was no need to get in her good graces, so I just sent her a small smile, quickly mumbling _sorry,_ before turning around and walking to the back of the room. I found a small table to sit at that wasn't occupied, and then I just waited.

I spent the time staring at all of the different things that had been placed on the shelves and the tables, things that didn't belong in a coffee shop, but who was I kidding - this was no ordinary coffee shop. This was like a coffee shop on an acid trip.

People came and left, and none of them looked like Levi's picture. Sure, it was a blurry old picture, but I was sure that I'd know the difference.

The girl from the bar sometimes stared at me from her spot behind the bar, but she didn't try to walk up to me, not even to say that I needed to buy sometimes or else I'd had to leave. I would have expected such a thing to happen, but she stayed still. Sometimes her other coworker came out from the back to chat, and at one point she even pointed at me as they talked, but I couldn't hear what they were saying and I honestly didn't care.

I was here for one thing, and one thing only. To confront the man that had been wasting my time for a whole year.

I wasn't going to get physical with him or anything, I just wanted to talk to him. Maybe yell a little, depending on how much courage I'd have left. And if he didn't come soon, that wouldn't be a lot. It was slowly dwindling as time went by, but of course, just when I had decided to get up and leave, the doorbell rang as a man walked in.

Not any man, however. A short, yet muscular man, with smoldering eyes and an extra inch or two when his hips shook from walking. He was graceful in his movements, almost as if his body was dancing without him knowing. He was wearing black jeans and a grey hoodie, yet it was wrapped around his body perfectly, as if it was made just for him.

I recognized him immediately, though it was only because of the hair. I'd recognize that undercut anywhere, especially when it was paired up with that raven hair.

Levi Ackerman.

I had fantasized about this moment for so long.

Well, I'd had several fantasies that was quite different from each other, but in the most recent one I'd stand up and yell "Hey, Ackerman!", and he would have been in total shock from seeing my handsome self, and I'd walk up to him and give him a nice slap on the face, along with the frase "Thanks for being a huge dick and not living up to your end of the deal. Go to hell, you fucking liar!" - before storming out like a fucking champ.

But of course that was a fantasy, I was still … just me. A pathetic introvert with no balls to do any of that. And seeing him now, for the first time ever, I was speechless. And absolutely not capable of moving my body what so ever. I could just sit there and stare at his back, as he talked to – no no no, please oh god no. He was talking to that girl with the glasses and she was pointing -

I jumped out of my seat and ran for the bathroom, leaving both my backpack and book behind on the table, having to time to save my precious items as all I could think about was to hide before he could see me.

Was I really such a huge coward?  
Well yes, yes I was. No doubt about that.

I rushed into the nearest toilet stall, and locked myself inside with a loud sigh.

I was being such a mouse, hiding here from my problems. And top to it off, I was the one who had put myself into this very situation. I could have just stayed home with my computer and my books, and I wouldn't have had to get into this mess. But then again, I knew that I had to step up for myself. I needed not to feel any shame, because I hadn't done anything wrong.

I had to remind myself that I had not done anything wrong.

HE was the one in the wrong. He had been the asshole, and he should be the one to feel ashamed. Not me.

I took a deep breath, as I could feel my frustration and anger swelling up inside of me. It was boiling over, to the point of no return. Now was the time. I could feel how the lack of bravery inside of me was slowly being overshadowed.

I made my way back, and with a sense of new courage, I headed in his direction.

"Where is he?" I asked the girl with the glasses, using all my determination not to stammer at this very moment. She looked at me in a mix of confusion and malaise as she pointed to the open door, where Levi was in the middle of hanging his sweater and bag on a coathanger. As I stormed towards him, he turned around to face me, his face changing from a stoic look, to looking disheleved instead, as if his brain had a hard time processing to what was happening before him.

I had to admit, it felt good to see him like that.

"Hey, asshole!" I greeted him angrily, not caring that I was in the act of committing a terrible faux pas. "You don't even deserve a chance at love," I growled at him as I lifted my hand and gave him a good slap on his right cheek.

I didn't even have the time to see the impact of my head, before my body had run out of the place, heading for the nearest alley to make sure that he wasn't following me.

"Yes!" I screamed to myself, making several of the civilians jump in shock at my outburst as I ran past them. "I did it! I GOT HIM! I …. I – Fuck," I stopped immediately, looking back at the coffee shop.

"I forgot my backpack."


	2. Chapter 2: A Cute Little Mouse

Chapter two: A Cute Little Mouse

I found the nearest bench, and immediately called Mikasa.

"I desperately need your help,"

"Where are you? Are you hurt? Tell me how to find you,"

I couldn't help but chuckle, and it was a nice change of pace from all the other emotions running wild in my mind at the moment.

"Physically, I'm okay. I'll text you the address, and please … Drive safely,"

I had to add the last words, as Armin had once told me how Mikasa had been driving like a madman when I had been in trouble the last time. We ended the call and I shared my location with her via an app, and then I just stayed there, waiting. I nervously kept looking towards the coffee shop though, as I was still worried he would suddenly appear. But I was in a safe distance now, and it would be easy for me to run away without him even seeing me.

I didn't have to wait long before Mikasa was parking the car in front of me. Thank god that it wasn't a busy street.

"Eren," She said in an impatient manner as she rushed to my side. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I fidgeted with the end of my shirt, as I looked away, embarassed.

"I may have decided to go to where that asshole worked, and I may have caused a scene and then forgotten all my stuff when I ran out …"

I was acting like such a child as I explained the situation to her, but only because I knew that she would scold me when she'd hear what I'd done.

"Eren, for god's sake, I told you to forget about him!" She whined, rolling her eyes at me. "Why would you even put yourself in such a tedious situation? You know how you are when you get yourself worked up, and-"

"Okay, okay! I get it, I know. Will you please just go get my stuff? I don't want to face him after what I did …"

She stood up, ready to go, before suddenly hesitating.  
"Eren … What exactly did you do?"

I hesitated as well.

"I may have … Hit him? But only a little bit!"

"Eren!"

She let out a breathly whine, before reaching for her forehead.

"I can't believe …. - you can be so … - why is it always -" She mumbled to herself as she made her way over to the coffee shop that I had pointed out for her.

I was ashamed that I had to ask for her help, but I knew that I could count on her.

That was what big sisters were for, after all.

I impatiently waited for her return, biting my nails nervously as I tried to imagine what was going down inside the café.

.

* * *

.

"Yeah, so, my brother left some stuff here. It wasn't that long ago. I need to get it back for him," Mikasa said, as she stood at the bar, having a staring contest with the girl behind it.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, I know that I'm _totally_ allowed to just hand out forgotten things to strangers that I have never even seen in here before," She said with obvious sarcasm. "But maybe if you got your brother to come and get them himself, I'm sure that there would be no problem what so ever,"

She was grinning at Mikasa, obviously just being devious and wanting Eren and Levi back together in the same room for another showdown in dramatown.

But Mikasa was looking unfazed as always, seemingly not bothered by the girl's trickery.

"Let me talk to your manager,"

"And what might I help you with?" Levi came around from the back, wearing the same apron as the brown-haired girl, except it said "Manager" on his.

"My brother forgot his backpack here, and your-," Mikasa sent her a sharp look. "- employee here, she won't give it to me,"

"What does it look like?"

"It's a green backpack, with a logo of white wings on the front."  
"Hmm... Can you tell me the belongings inside the bag? Then I'll surely hand it over to you. Otherwise, we can't be sure that this belongs to you and your brother," Levi said calmly.

Mikasa restrained herself from letting out an irritated sigh, before opening up her phone and calling Eren.

"Hello?"

Mikasa put him on speaker without him knowing, just wanting this to be over as quickly as possible. She certainly didn't want to waste her time repeating everything Eren said, so this was certainly easier.

"Tell me what's in your bag, now."  
"Huh? Well, my computer of course,"

There was a short pause.  
"Well, my notebook and a couple of lollipops as well. And a toothbrush, and … my passport and wallet. That's it, I think. Why do you-"

Mikasa hung up, before he could even finish the sentence.

"It's all there, right?"

Levi opened the bag and started rummaging around in it, before closing it and handing it over.

"Well, all of it is there, except the wallet. But if it's still here in the café somewhere, we'll search for it and make sure that it's safe until you come to pick it up."

"We're only here for a limited time, so if you find it can you please call this number?" Mikasa asked, grabbing a napkin and started to write down a series of numbers, before stopping. "Wait … Is it possible for you to contact me through social media instead of a phone number? I'm from Europe, so it would probably cost money if you called me …"

"Do you have Instagram? If you follow me, I can send you a DM when we find it," The girl with the glasses said, suddenly not seeming that hostile towards Mikasa anymore.

They exchanged their instagrams quietly, before Mikasa grabbed the bag, mumbling _thanks,_ before heading out, relieved for it to be over.

.

* * *

.

"You're buying me dinner, and it's not gonna be cheap. Now my instagram feed will probably get spammed with that stupid girl for the next couple of days, and all because of you," Mikasa sighed, as she threw the bag in my lap. I followed her to the car, confused as hell.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your wallet isn't in your bag, so they need to be able to contact me if they find it,"

I furrowed my brows, as I started looking inside my bag.

"What?! But all my money is in there! Fuck!"

"Are you seriously stupid enough to bring all of your pocket money outside, instead of leaving some behind in your suitcase, or in the safe that's in the hotelroom?"

"You don't have to be so sassy," I stuck my tongue out, before grinning. "If I don't have my wallet, I'm not even capable of buying you any food!"

I laughed loudly in victory while lifting my arms to look like an evil antagonist, mostly just to annoy her.

"Stupid," She gave me a soft push, before placing her fingertips right at my neck, using the ultimate torture method : _tickling_.

I whined and laughed hysterically, before pushing her hands away desperately.

"I told you not to do that!"

"Sorry, what? I can't hear you over all that fun you're having,"

She smiled, before stopping the car at a red light.

"I'm not havi-AAAHHH!"

Before I knew it, she had turned to me, now able to use both her hands and fully capable to hold me down as she tickled the life out of me.  
"MERCY! Have mercy!"

She leaned back, laughing at me, as I pulled as far back away from her as possible, trying to comb my messy hair with my fingers.

"Come on, let's go to Five Guys. I'm in the mood for free peanuts,"

"No, I want Wendy's!"

Mikasa just shook her head and snickered as the light turned green, and she focused on driving again. Since I knew that we were probably going to Five Guys and there was nothing I could do about it, I gave up and grabbed her phone instead. I unlocked it – _the code was my birthday_ – and went on her instagram, deciding to stalk that girl with the glasses instead.

Her username was "Hanjithemoderngandhi", and her profile picture was her behind a window, pressing her face up against it so hard that her nose made her resemble a pig. I scrolled down her pictures slowly, as most of them where a mix of pizza, animals and … people. Wait, what? I looked closer at the pictures that was her taking selfies with her friends, but some of them were in that coffee shop … What if Levi was on one of them?

I found one quicker than I'd thought. She had taken one of him standing behind the musical instruments in the back, apparently trying to fix the chords, as he had several of them wrapped around his neck and arms. Hanji had made a lot of hashtags as well, such as _#managermistakes #whentheypretendtheyknowwhattheyaredoing #turnthatfrownupsidedown #hubbyisnohelp_ and _#scarylittleman._

I couldn't help but snicker at them, as he was indeed frowning and looking at the camera like he wanted to kill the one holding it.

I searched for another one of him, finding it already after just a couple of seconds. This one was where they were all sitting as a group of people, but on _a freaking bridge_. My eyes widened, as I stared at the picture in disbelief. Levi was sitting furthest to the right, his right leg crossed over the left, and his arms crossing as well. He was looking out into the distance, clearly not happy that someone was taking a picture of him. Hanji was in the picture as well, but she was the only one that wasn't sitting down …. she was standing on her hands, trying to balance herself to keep her legs straight, and you could see that her face was all red from trying so hard.

A blond, big guy was sitting to the left beside a petite little girl, both of them smiling politely, and at last there was a guy with honey-coloured hair on his knees beside Hanji, looking worried as hell.

All in all, it looked like a fun picture, and I couldn't help but smile as I lingered by the photo.

And then it hit me.

What if she had a photo on _that day.._?

I scrolled through her pictures, all the way to the top. It had been just a week ago, so she must surely have …

I paused, my whole body frozen as I stared at the date on the picture.

15th May, 2018.

 _Fuck. That. Shithole._

The picture seemed normal to other people, as it was just a picture of Hanji's feet as she's lying on a bed. But if you looked closer, you'd see that the background was a room, and not just anyone's room.

His room.

I'd recognise those pictures on the wall anywhere, as I'd been staring at them for a whole year. And his gaming chair was to the right, where you'd even see a person sitting in it, though the person was somewhat cropped out of the picture. I knew that it was him though.

HE HAD JUST BEEN CHILLING IN HIS ROOM WITH HER ALL DAY?

If it was possible, smoke would probably have been pouring out of my ears and nose, as I started boiling with rage inside of me yet again.

That bastard! I never wanted to see him ever again!

.

* * *

.

"So … What an interesting day it's been, huh?" Hanji smirked at Levi, as he was in the middle of wiping the tables clean.

They had closed down for the day, after throwing the last drunk college girls out of there. Hanji was sitting on top of the bar, seemingly not intending to do any work what so ever.

Levi just let out a low grunt in response.

"You know, I've never seen you get hit and then not do anything about it. You usually break the guy's arm, or something."

Another grunt from the silent man.

"And then you were suddenly very nice to the guy's sister, just handing her the bag with such a nice attitude..."

"What are you trying to get to?"

He finally finished, walking back to where Hanji was.

"Well, I guess I'm just trying to say that nothing goes past me, and oh my-"

She grinned as she jumped down, grabbing Levi's ass hard.

"- … What's this, hmm?"

She pulled out the little black wallet that had been hiding away in his back pocket.

"Hey!"

"Have you finally succumbed to petty theft? Is the managing job not paying you good enough?" She teasingly asked, as she jumped away from him the very moment that he tried to grab out for her.

"Shut up, four eyes. You know I don't care about money,"

She opened the wallet, looking through it with great curiousity.

"Holy shit! There's like, over a thousand dollars here!" Her eyes widened, before a wicked smile appeared on her lips. "Do you think he'd notice if a teeny tiny bit of it just-"

"Give me that," Levi rolled his eyes at her as he took the wallet away from her. He was just about to close it, before something caught his eye.

He carefully took out the picture of Eren and his sister that had been hidden away in one of the small pockets of the wallet. They were standing on a hill, looking out over the water, both of them only wearing bathing shorts and a bikini. The sister was holding down her hat, seemingly more interested in keeping it from not flying away in the wind, than to pose for the picture, while Eren was holding an arm around his sisters waist, as he was smiling brightly at the camera. The lightning was perfect for the shot, bringing out the beautiful teal-green colour of his eyes.

He was so …. "- _cute."  
_ "Sorry, what was that?"

Hanji was grinning widely, as she leaned over to see what he was looking at.

"Mind your own damn business, you little witch." Levi hissed at Hanji, quickly putting the picture back into the wallet, before pushing it down into his back pocket again.

"If you tell me why you stole his wallet, I'll gladly mind my own business,"

Levi sighed as he walked over to one of the windows, staring at the empty streets and the dark sky.

"Well, I wasn't sure at first when he hit me, but when I saw his name on his passport, I'm now a hundred percent certain that it's _him_... And his wallet is just an excuse to talk to him, since he'll probably never talk to me again otherwise."

"Ohhhhh … I know who he is now! HE'S THAT CUTE LITTLE MOUSE YOU'VE BEEN TALGFUHHHH-"

Hanji kept screeching into his hand as he covered her mouth before she was able to finish her sentence.

" _Shut. UP."_

* * *

In the dimmed lights you wouldn't be able to see it, so only the gods would know how Levi's cheeks were turning a faint crimson red.

He was _blushing._


End file.
